The APPG on pharmacy today (November 20) warned that there is “inadequate support for independent prescribing (IP) and training” in a new report on the “future of community pharmacy in England”.
The report cautioned that there is a “looming bottleneck in the rollout of IP” with “too few designated prescribing practitioners (DPPs) available to support incoming prescriber-ready graduates”.
Read more: Pharmacist MP ‘honoured’ to be elected new APPG chair
Training pathways for the current workforce “remain unfunded and logistically difficult”, it said, while “there remains uncertainty on the scope” of the future workforce’s role.
The report urged the government to “invest in prescribing”, calling for the IP rollout to be “accelerated through funded training, protected learning time and expanded supervisory capacity”.
And it added that wider pharmacy teams “must be upskilled and supported to manage clinical pressures”.
“National asset at risk”
The APPG stressed that community pharmacy is a “national asset at risk” if “urgent policy action” is not taken, adding that the government must “act swiftly to prevent the collapse of a sector critical to NHS resilience”.
It called for the sector to be “repositioned as a central force in a reformed primary care system”, noting that England’s community pharmacy network stands “ready to deliver on key [NHS] national objectives”.
The report pointed to a “longstanding cultural barrier that sees pharmacy as transactional rather than clinical” and called for “a major cultural reset within the NHS to recognise the full value of community pharmacy”.
Read more: ‘Major’ pharmacy employers ‘not interested’ in upskilling staff
The APPG set out a “compelling vision” for what pharmacy can deliver if its potential is fully realised, including:
- A “fully funded nationally commissioned” walk-in Pharmacy First service offering advice and treatment for a “broader range” of common conditions that would create an “alternative first contact for care” and be “faster, more convenient and less costly per episode” than GPs
- Services such as “expanded urgent care, minor illness care and vaccinations” being “expanded through pharmacy” to meet the needs of time-poor individuals and enhance “economic participation”
- Pharmacies playing a “greater role” in “structured medication reviews, monitoring and treatment optimisation” and being empowered to support condition management to “alleviate pressure” on general practice
- “Greater representation” of community pharmacy within integrated care systems (ICSs) as an “essential” part of realising its potential as “embedded access points”
- Encouraging pharmacies to “pilot diverse new services” such as diagnostics and expanded prescribing with a “more permissive regulatory framework”
Read more: NHSE to pilot ‘early career pathway’ for newly registered IPs
The report also listed seven “priority recommendations” for the government to “unlock pharmacy’s potential” that included providing a “long-term funding settlement”, modernising the contract and integrating pharmacy “into NHS systems and leadership”.
It noted that the government must ensure GP Connect – which allows pharmacies to input consultation data into GP patient records - is “incorporated into all of pharmacy practice” to enable “fully joined-up care”.
And it added that serious shortage protocols (SSPs) should be reformed to “allow pharmacists to use their clinical judgement in making substitutions” without needing “specific protocols” for each medicine.
Pharmacists “ready to do more”
New APPG chair Sadik Al-Hassan said that the report’s message is “clear” – pharmacies stand “ready to do more but urgent action is needed”.
“Now is the time to recognise and realise the full potential of England’s pharmacy network as a central pillar of health policy reform and dream the reality of pharmacy for 2035,” he added.
Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) chief executive Malcolm Harrison stressed that “there is so much more” pharmacies can do for both patients and the NHS.
Read more: NHSE to ‘consult’ with CPE on national prescribing service
“The government must urgently bridge the longstanding funding gap,” he said, adding that “investment in community pharmacy is vital to delivering the 10-year plan”.
And he noted that it is “vital that services are commissioned to allow pharmacists to use their IP skills” via a national framework - “accompanied by an adequate supply of DPPs to ensure minimal disruption” to the workforce.
It comes after the Pharmacists’ Defence Association (PDA) last week revealed that some “major employers” in the north of England are “not interested in upskilling staff”, with “many” pharmacists having to fund their own IP courses.
